


New Life

by Clockwork_Contessa



Series: Shepard's Adventures continue [2]
Category: Mass Effect
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-03
Updated: 2018-01-03
Packaged: 2019-02-27 21:14:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13256754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Clockwork_Contessa/pseuds/Clockwork_Contessa





	New Life

“Shepard, it appears that there were no survivors of the attack,” EDI’s voice spoke into the comm unit.

“Damn it,” Shepard kicked the ground in frustration. They hadn’t gotten there soon enough. If they had, maybe they could have saved the colony.

Garrus put his arm on her shoulder. ‘There was nothing we could do.” Shepard took a deep breath. She hated this; no matter what she did, there was always more death. More people she couldn’t save. “Split up and search the area,” she snapped at her crew. “Let’s find out what did this.”

Kaidan and Tali headed off in one direction, while she and Garrus went the other. She was determined to find out what had happened. EDI’s report suggested thresher maws, but the telltale signs of threshers—broken ground, acid burns—were missing. Something else had caused this destruction, but Shepard didn’t know what. They searched for hours, but to no avail. “Come on,” Shepard finally said, “let’s head back. Cortez, get the shuttle ready.”

“ETA is 5 minutes, Commander,” Cortez replied.

“What happened here?” Shepard whispered as she and Garrus headed to the extraction point. Shepard was about to get into the shuttle when she heard it—it was faint, but there. “Does anyone else hear that?” She asked. Kaidan and Garrus shook their heads. She strained, listening for the sound again.

“Shepard, we have to go,” Kaidan said, a note of urgency in his voice.

She heard the noise again, louder this time. “Wait here!” she yelled, turning and running toward the sound. It got louder as she approached, and more identifiable. Someone was crying for help, and Shepard was going to answer.

“Shepard!” Garrus yelled.

She approached the remains of a house and the crying got louder. Treading carefully among the rubble, Shepard stopped herself from stepping on the corpses of a man and woman. They had died holding hands. Putting two and two together, she moved toward a pile of wreckage not too far from the young couple. The crying was even louder here. Shifting a piece of roofing aside, Shepard fought back tears as she came face to face with a human baby, wrapped in a blanket. “Garrus! Kaidan! Get over here!” Panic crept into Shepard’s voice as she tried to lift the infant. The debris was precariously balanced and the baby’s blanket was stuck. If she tried to tug it, she might end up burying both of them. “I found a survivor!”

With Kaidan and Garrus’ assistance, they were able to get the baby out of the rubble and back to the shuttle. Shepard held the infant tightly until they were safely on the Normandy “I want Dr. Chakwas to take a look at her,” Shepard said, “we’ll decide what to do from there.”

******

“You can’t be serious, Shepard.”

“Come on, Garrus. You always said you wanted kids.” Garrus and Shepard were in their cabin on the Normandy. Dr. Chakwas had finished her examination of the baby; she had a minor infection and had suffered some smoke inhalation, but she had made remarkable progress since they found her. Dr. Chakwas estimated she’d be perfectly healthy again soon enough. Though not a pediatrics expert, the doctor had estimated her to be around 6 months old. Shepard had to stop herself from punching something when she found that out; the poor child, an orphan before her first birthday.

“I know I said we should have kids, but I meant in a few more years, when we’re settled down, and—“ “Garrus, she has nowhere else to go.” “We can take her to an orphanage on the Citadel, or even on Earth." Shepard’s eyes flashed. “There are too many orphans on Earth and the Citadel already.”

Garrus sat next to his human wife on their bed. “I know you had it rough growing up on Earth in and out of orphanages, and I want nothing more than to raise a child with you, but have you thought this through?”

Shepard took her husband’s hand in hers. “Garrus, I haven’t stopped thinking about this since I found her in the rubble a week ago.” She paused, meeting his gaze. “I’m ready to settle down with you and start our family. And now seems like the perfect time. There’s a child who needs a home, and we can give her one. “

Garrus took a deep breath, his mandibles flaring out to the side, just a little. “Well, alright then. It’s settled. We’ll give her the best home we can, even if it is on a giant warship for a few years while we make other plans.”

Three days later the new parents held their daughter for the first time. “Be careful,” Dr. Chakwas said to Garrus, “human babies are a bit more delicate than turian babies.” EDI’s voice spoke from nowhere,

“Shepard, I have begun filing the necessary paperwork to legalize the addition of this infant to your and Garrus’ family. However, because her previous home was destroyed in the attack, all records of her, including her name, have been lost.” “

That’s alright, EDI,” Garrus said. “We have the perfect name for her.”

Shepard brushed her finger against her daughter’s cheek. “Welcome to your new home, Ashley.”


End file.
